Wednesday, January 29, 2014

BRONX, NEW YORK, JANUARY 29- A spokesman for the developer of the Bay Plaza shopping center said, this week, that plans for the new mall that is reportedly coming to Co-op City by mid-August, call for a food court with up to 10 small eateries and two full-scale restaurants to be among the 80 to 90 stores at the new mall.

Michael Stone, a vice president of Prestige Properties, said that the food court that is planned would be an upscale version of the food courts that are found in other parts of the Bronx.

Current eateries in the Bay Plaza shopping center include outlets of Red Lobster and Panera Bread, two of the best restaurants in the Co-op City area.

Sit-down eateries that the developers of Bay Plaza have approached for leases have included the Cheesecake Factory, Maggiano's Little Italy, Brio Tuscan Grille, and Texas de Brazil, the New York Times has reported.

Fast-food restaurants that have considered leasing space at the Bay Plaza food court that is envisioned include Bobby's Burger Place and the Chipotle Mexican Grill.

Macy 's and JC Penney will be the anchors of the combined Bay Plaza mall, which will span more than two million square feet and be totally enclosed when it is completed. JC Penney is the anchor store of the current Bay Plaza shopping center.

The plans for the new mall call for JC Penney to be at its northern end and Macy's to be at its southern end.

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Developer says new mall will be something very special

By Michael Horowitz

BRONX, NEW YORK, JANUARY 29- A spokesman for the Bay Plaza shopping center said, this week, that he expected the long-awaited new wing of the sprawling shopping area to open by the middle of August.

Michael Stone, a vice president of Prestige Properties LLC, said, this week, that the 780,000-square-foot extension of Bay Plaza is “about two-thirds completed.”

Stone added, “The new Macy's, which will be an anchor store for Bay Plaza's new, enclosed mall and comprise 160,000 square feet on its own, is under construction as we now speak.”

The 780,000-square foot extension of Bay Plaza will mean that the shopping center, which is on the outskirts of Co-op City, will

comprise close to two million square feet.

The price tag for the extension of the Bay Plaza mall is expected to approach $300 million. The enclosed portion of the mall will be home to 80 to 90 stores, Stone said.

The new mall is expected to create 1,700 permanent jobs. And to have parking for up 2,300 cars.

The extension of Bay Plaza's new wing will be connected to the

existing JC Penney store at Bay Plaza.

In recent months, those living in Co-op City and those driving by the community have seen the new wing of the shopping center rising on its southern end of the Bay Plaza shopping center.

The shopping center's developers and elected officials have stressed that the impending of Bay Plaza's new wing is an exciting development for the Bronx and Westchester.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., among others, have touted the development of Bay Plaza's new wing as a sign of progress in the Bronx and in the city as a whole.

Bay Plaza, which first opened in the mid-1980s and spans 1,300 square feet, is already the largest mall in the Bronx.

When the new mall is completed, it will be attached to the current shopping center. The entire mall will be enclosed, making it the first mall of this kind in the Bronx.

“We are talking to all the major chains about coming to Bay Plaza,” Sam Shalem, CEO of Prestige Properties has stressed. “This is just the kind of suburban mall this area needs.”

Shalem said that he is confident that the enlarged mall will have

major appeal to the more than four million people who live in close proximity to Co-op City.

Shalem added that he expected the new shopping center to attract those living in Westchester and southern Connecticut, as well as those living in neighborhoods through the Bronx.